PB&J Blondies

Peanut butter and jelly always brings me back to being a kid and having PB&J sandwiches for lunch. I would eat them with nacho cheese doritos which might sound like an odd pairing but honestly the salty and sweet combo with the cheesy chips was (and still is) so good! Don’t knock it until you try it. Over the years on the blog, I’ve created some of my favorite PB&J mash-ups that you should also make. Cinnamon rolls, coffee cake, and doughnuts have all gotten the peanut butter and jelly treatment and I have to say that they’re all a hit in my book. This time around, I’m bringing you these PB&J Blondies which is such an easy dessert or mid-week treat to make whether you want to indulge your kids after school or treat yourself after work. You need these ASAP, trust and believe.

In a large bowl, cream together the unsalted butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, 3 minutes.

**Tip: You want to make sure that the butter is completely at room temperature so that it blends into the sugar properly.**

Add in the peanut butter and stir until combined. Then add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla.

**Note: Make sure that you use smooth basic peanut butter for this. This is not the recipe for organic or all-natural peanut butter. That stuff is too thin and won’t hold up in this recipe.**

Add the flour, baking powder and salt to the bowl and stir until just combined. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and spread out into an even layer.

**Note: Line a 9×13-inch baking pan with parchment paper so that there is an overhang on either side. This will make it easier to remove the blondies from the pan.**

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Using a spoon, dollop the strawberry preserves on top, spacing them out randomly. Do not swirl. Sprinkle the chopped peanuts on top.

**Note: I’m using strawberry preserves for this because I love my PB&J sandwiches with it but you can really use whatever jam, jelly or preserve flavor you like!**

Bake in a preheated 350°F oven until a toothpick, inserted in the middle, comes out clean, 28 to 32 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool completely. Using the parchment paper lift the blondies from the pan. Then slice into 18 even pieces.

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Serve the blondies right away or store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. But honestly I don’t think they’ll last for that long…they didn’t in my house.

I sliced these into 18 pieces because I like blondies in smaller rectangles, but if you want a heartier slice, you can do 12 pieces instead. They’re decadent but not overly sweet thanks to the saltiness from the peanut butter and roasted peanuts.

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I don’t really have many blondie or brownie recipes on the blog, but I think it’s so important to have a few very simple cookie or bar recipes in your repertoire because they’re such an easy dessert to put together if you’re craving something sweet and want it fast or if you’re having last minute company over! Give these a try and let me know what you think below. Thank you so much for following along.